ITC Style

ITC様式 / 1970s–1980s / Style / Type Classification

New York in the phototype era produced a style of huge x-heights and tightly packed settings. Lubalin's conceptual typography and U&lc magazine staged letters as pictures and gave the period its face.

ITC Style — AI-generated interpretation 1 — AI-generated interpretation, not a reference work

ITC Style — Herb Lubalin, Avant Garde magazine logotype, 1968 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Herb Lubalin, Avant Garde magazine logotype, 1968 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

ITC Style — Herb Lubalin, logotypes (Galeries Lafayette, Moneysworth, McGraphic, Typography) — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Herb Lubalin, logotypes (Galeries Lafayette, Moneysworth, McGraphic, Typography) — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

Huge x-heights
Tight-not-touching settings
Swashes and ligatures on stage
Letters as image

Best used for

Magazine feature openers where the headline itself must stand as an image
Cosmetics and music advertising giving the shape of a word gloss and lift

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Dictionary entry

Type: A large x-height face packed tight, with ligatures and swashes worked in
Composition: The headline massed into a few lines, leading closed to make one shape
Material: Printed as flat color on glossy stock that tightens the letter edges
Caution: Tracking pushed until the letters touch turns the line into pattern rather than reading and the headline stops working.
Further study: Herb Lubalin / Avant Garde magazine and its typeface / the digital-era reappraisal of phototype

Related entries

Push Pin Style (プッシュピン・スタイル)Shared effects: Play / Exhilaration.Compare ITC Style and Push Pin Style
Swiss Punk Typography (スイス・パンク・タイポグラフィ)Shared effects: Exhilaration.Compare ITC Style and Swiss Punk Typography

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